Brain waves predict success of advertisements

Modified: March 17, 2017

Through a provocative new neuroscience-based marketing research method developed at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, brain waves of viewers watching trailers in movie theaters produced surprisingly accurate information about how well the films did at the box office upon release.

Through the study, which included 122 moviegoers, researchers were able to determine what type of content is most engaging and memorable to consumers.

Neuroscience and business professor Moran Cerf and neuroscience Ph.D. researcher Sam Barnett developed a new technique using brain monitoring (electroencephalography; EEG). They measured participants’ level of engagement with advertisements in real time by analyzing their brain waves.

“It turns out, when our brains are truly engaged with the content we are watching, they essentially look the same as one another,” Barnett said.